Brandon Sun By: Emma Tranter, The Canadian Press Posted:
Last Modified: 11:29 AM CDT Monday, Apr. 5, 2021
There was a time last year when the guardians of Edehzhie would head out on the land in the Northwest Territories and worry what their communities might look like when they returned.
Guardians of the Edehzhie protected area in the Northwest Territories are trained in the use of wildlife cameras as seen in this handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Indigenous Leadership Initiative MANDATORY CREDIT
There was a time last year when the guardians of Edehzhie would head out on the land in the Northwest Territories and worry what their communities might look like when they returned.
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The Canadian Press
There was a time last year when the guardians of Edehzhie would head out on the land in the Northwest Territories and worry what their communities might look like when they returned.
That was when COVID-19 started to sweep across Canada, threatening the country’s northern communities, including those around the protected area known as Edehzhie in the Dehcho region of the N.W.T.
Guardians of Edehzhie: Protecting the land during the pandemic
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Guardians of the Edehzhie protected area in the Northwest Territories are trained in the use of wildlife cameras as seen in this handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Indigenous Leadership Initiative MANDATORY CREDIT
There was a time last year when the guardians of Edehzhie would head out on the land in the Northwest Territories and worry what their communities might look like when they returned.
That was when COVID-19 started to sweep across Canada, threatening the country’s northern communities, including those around the protected area known as Edehzhie in the Dehcho region of the N.W.T.
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Established in 2018 between the Dehcho First Nations and the federal government, Edehzhie is the country s first Indigenous Protected Area. It covers more than 14,000 square kilometres of land more than twice the size of Banff National Park.
Edehzhie is known as the breadbasket of the Dehcho region, because of its abundance of wildlife, plants and fresh water.
As part of the agreement between the Dehcho and Canada, eight people were hired as guardians to monitor activities on the land. They are from the four surrounding communities of Fort Providence, Jean Marie River, Fort Simpson and Wrigley. They re essentially our eyes and ears on the ground, said Ashley Menicoche, one of four Edehzhie community co-ordinators, from her home in Fort Simpson.